Two French music festivals have dropped US band Eagles of Death Metal from their line-ups this summer following further controversial comments by the band’s frontman about last year's terrorist attacks in Paris.
89 people were murdered when terrorists opened fire in Paris' Le Bataclan venue last November during a gig by the band.
Last week, frontman Jesse Hughes told the Taki’s Magazine website that he saw some “terrorists” in the Bataclan concert hall before the November 13th show and also saw “Muslims celebrating in the street during the attack”, reports the Press Association.
The Rock en Seine concert in the French capital and the Cabaret Vert festival in Ardennes in northern France have issued a joint statement in which they say they are “in total disagreement with Jesse Hughes’s recent allegations given in an itw with an american media, both Cabaret Vert & Rock en Seine festivals have decided to cancel the band’s performance. We thank you for your understanding.”
Hughes back on stage in Paris last February
Eagles of Death Metal returned to Paris on February 17th to perform for survivors of the Bataclan attack.
This is not the first time Hughes has found himself in hot water over his comments on the attack, Last March, he apologised for his suggestion that Le Bataclan security guards may have been involved in the terrorist attacks.
In a Fox Business Network interview broadcast in the USA after the attack, Hughes suggested that security at Le Bataclan may have been tipped-off about the terror attacks on November 13.
Hughes released a statement in which he said: "I humbly beg forgiveness from the people of France, the staff and security of the Bataclan, my fans, family, friends and anyone else hurt or offended by the absurd accusations I made in my Fox Business Channel interview."
U2 invited EODM metal on stage at their gig last December
Last February Hughes also said: “Did your French gun control stop a single f***ing person from dying at the Bataclan? And if anyone can answer yes, I’d like to hear it, because I don’t think so . . . I think the only way my mind has been changed is that maybe that until nobody has guns, everybody has to have them."
